President Barack Obama and French President François Hollande are still strongly united on Syria — but five months after they almost launched military strikes to punish Bashar Assad for using chemical weapons, they’re united in not quite knowing what to do now.

The first round of negotiations in Geneva didn’t produce much. The second round was most memorable for a yelling match between representatives from Assad’s regime and the Syrian opposition.

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In a press conference Tuesday during which both presidents went out of their way to boost each other — and what Hollande called the “exceptional situation” of an alliance that’s never been more intertwined — they agreed clearly on three things about Syria: Assad still needs to go, they’re hopeful for a political solution to get to that point, and Russia needs to do more to help things along.

“Is there additional direct action or military action that would resolve the situation in Syria?” Obama asked. Noting that he still reserved the right to use military force, Obama eventually answered with a diagnosis — but no remedy. “The situation’s fluid and we are continuing to explore every possible avenue to solve this problem,” he said. “Because it’s not just heartbreaking to see what’s happening to Syria, it’s very dangerous for the region as a whole, including friends and allies and partners like Lebanon or Jordan that are being adversely impacted by it.”

Hollande was similarly ambiguous on long-term solutions. “Chemical weapons have to be destroyed — fully. And pressure will be exerted — fully. And then there are choices,” he said.

Obama and Hollande were prepared, before Obama backed away in deference to a resistant Congress and a United Nations process, to bomb Assad after chemical weapons were traced to attacks that killed 1,400 people in towns outside of Damascus. Most estimates show that well over 130,000 people have died during the three-year civil war, with upwards of 100 more each day.

“We still have a horrendous situation on the ground in Syria. I don’t think anybody disputes that,” Obama said. “What is absolutely clear is that with each passing day, the state of Syria itself is crumbling. That is bad for Syria, it is bad for the region, it is bad for global national security,” he added, pointing to the extremists that are being produced out of the civil war and spreading around the world.

Asked for specifics about what the United States can do now, Obama mentioned humanitarian assistance, though he said “nobody’s going to deny that there’s enormous frustration” about the problems getting that assistance to people in Syria. The United Nations Security Council is set to vote on a bill aimed at increasing aid access, but Russia has expressed its opposition.

Hollande swung hard at President Vladimir Putin’s government for the delay.

“We will see again who speaks clearly on the issue of the Syrian question and who is partisan,” he said. “How can you object to humanitarian corridors, why would you prevent the vote of a resolution if in good faith, it is all about saving human lives?”

Both tried to cite progress in the Geneva talks, despite the lack of resolution.

“I would not completely discount the fact that in this latest round of negotiations, what you saw was a coherent, cohesive, reasonable opposition in the same room for the first time negotiating directly with the regime,” Obama said.

Hollande felt the need to push back on the idea that, given the way the talks have gone, that there’s any chance that they’re negotiating anything other than Assad’s total removal from power.

“The only purpose of this conference is to make political transition possible,” he said. “It’s all about making sure that a political change will be possible which eventually will have to take place in Syria.”

Hollande, whose approval ratings back home are almost as low as those of the U.S. Congress here, was beaming from the moment he stepped out of his limousine on the White House lawn this morning for the official welcoming fanfare. He’s clearly enamored of Obama, saying to him in his speech this morning, “you are this great man of the United States of America.” In his opening remarks, he reached back to to 2008 to remember how much Obama’s first presidential win meant to the world — “proof that America was moving forward.”

And throughout, both men and their top aides have stressed just how close the alliance has become, as Obama’s found his most willing international partner for collaborations not just on international negotiations, but also interventions in Libya, Mali and the Central African Republic, as well as intelligence sharing and counterterrorism.

Obama returned the praise — to the point that a French reporter asked him whether France had replaced the United Kingdom as America’s strongest ally. The query prompted an awkward joke about how choosing between European countries was like asking him to choose between his daughters, followed by Hollande noting that he has four children of his own, and “we’re not trying to be anyone’s favorite.”

But in a move that the French had been hoping for, Obama accepted Hollande’s invitation to join international leaders in Normandy in June for the 70th anniversary commemoration of the D-Day invasion.

“Ensemble,” Hollande repeated, in his remarks in French upon arriving at the White House Tuesday morning — “together.”

“We stand together with the United States to address the threat of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and chemical weapons,” Hollande said. “Together to solve the crises faced by the Middle East, together to support Africa’s development, and together to fight global warming and climate change.”